RETHINKING GLOBAL URBANISM

If Vishaan Chakrabarti of PAU succeeds in his singular purpose of designing more beautiful, sustainable, equitable and joyful cities, we sure have a lot to be optimistic about

- Seema Sreedharan

Perhaps 9/11 was a definitive moment in architect Vishaan Chakrabarti’s career. He was an associate partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merill, fully licensed as an architect, when the tragic events of 9/11 unfolded.

“I felt a call to public service, which is when I became the director of planning for Manhattan under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Together, our administration got New York back on its feet by rebuilding the World Trade Center site, planning for the High Line, and expanding our educational institutions like Columbia and NYU,” says Chakrabarti.

It was during this tryst that he came face to face with the capacity for resilience that cities and their communities exhibit in the face of crises. “The best cities are not about rich versus poor, they are about everyone propelling a collective future for a shared home. From that experience, I went on to teach and publish, and reconstituted my career as an architect a decade after 9/11, when I joined SHoP as a partner.” Four years later, at fifty, he started PAU (Practice for Architecture and Urbanism) in New York in late 2015.

Born in Kolkata, Chakrabarti immigrated to the United States as a toddler with his family. His larger interest in the fields of architecture and urbanism came from the travel. “My father was a scientist and my mother a singer, so we travelled extensively on a shoestring budget. I loved it. Experiencing the world’s cities, cultures, and cuisines had a lasting impact that unleashed my passion for architecture, museums, universities, airports, train stations, essentially for all of the wonders of urbanity,” says Chakrabarti.